I have an interesting problem. I have a 1971 F250 2WD with a 360 and a C6.

The parking brake cables on my truck are rather old and I purchased the front cable and two back cables. When I got underneath the truck I found that the cables did not match what is there at the momne.t

The front cable that I was given had a ball at the end instead of a threaded screw for adjusting as was underneath the truck. I did some checking and indeed, I was given the correct cable but sometime in the previous lifetime of the truck, the lever to which the cable is connected was removed. Additionally, the threaded end of the existing cable has a hole in the end for the tesioning spring.

So, at the moment, I am pursuing two different paths. One, I'm looking for a replacement lever assembly so I can use the stock cable. Junk yards up here in New England do not have any pickup trucks this old, so any suggestions where I can find it would be appreciated. And at the same time, I would like to figure out what kind of truck donated the cable that is currently underneath my truck.

Now, for the second issue, is that the rear parking brake cables are not the ones that I was given. I have a heavy duty dana rear axel (60 series with 3 inch wide brake shoes). The collar of the old brake cable that snugs up to the backing plate so that the cable enters the brakes at a 90 degree angle while the new cables have a collar so that the cable enters the backing plate at a 45 degree angle. So, where can I find the correct cables or should I go to the standard brakes and get rid of the heavy duty brakes.

Thanks for any help.

-David Glaser

 

so you have the lever type brake cable setup under the truck right now or the oval type that is about 3" long that holds all three cables I have the lever type available if needed and Im not sure what your meaning about how the rear cables enter the backing plate.

Tim

 

Tim,

Regarding the rear brake cables, the cables that are currently installed enter the backing plate at a right angle. That is, parallel to the axel tube. However, the new cables that I bought want to enter the backing plate at an angle. I bought the cables via mail order and the catalog did not list two different kinds of brake cables. So I'm wondering why the difference.

 

huh thats a new one to me I know that the 3" is the extra heavy duty brakes system most HD brakes are 12 1/8 x 2 1/2 will the new cables still fit into the hole of the backing plate my thinking is that the system is the same with the exception of having 3" shoes so maybe the cables will still work pull the drums and take a lookse.

Tim

 

Try to get hold of a Chiltons book with cable routing pics. I have a small chilton book that shows four pics. The only one with side lever is F100-F150-F250LD. The F250-350 2WD HD has its own pic, but I can't tell with regards to entering the backing plate. Like I said, try to get better pic as I think you may have a combination of some kind because of changeover. There are differences in 2WD and 4WD also.

 

Ok, I will pull the drums. But this will have to wait until later this week. Merlynr, what does the term LD mean in the abbreviation f250ld?

-David

 

Ooops, I just realized the LD means light duty.

Merlynr, my F250 is a Camper Special so I guess it is heavy duty. The picture that you saw, did it show the use of an oval equalizer instead of the side lever?

 

Mine has the oval as well its a 72 F-250 camper special but mine had the HD brakes as stated in the earlier post 2 1/2 " instead of the 3" but i think that the 3" is a 11" drum but not sure instead of the 12 1/8" x 2 1/2

 

It seems to be oval in shape with one cable from cab and two cables coming out. Behind that is lever return spring. All of this is ahead of crossmember. Then it goes thru second crossmember and where it looks like other end of lever return spring is attached. Front cables are attached to individual brake drum cables with a clip looking connector. cable ends need the ball on it to hook into the cable connector. To further confuse us, there are two views on one pic. One has the oval and assoc. parts between the crossmembers and other view has it in front of first crossmember. All of the HD pics are showing everything right down the middle of frame.

 

More on my Saga!

I removed the drums from the rear axel and removed the old parking brake cables. The backing plates have a square slot for the cable, not a round hole. The fitting that went up against the backing plate allowed the cable to enter through the plate at an angle and align up with the parking brake level. I tried to use a light duty cable but the retainer on the fitting did not hold the cable snugly and there was some binding of the cable with the fitting that went through the backing plate. So this solution was not working very well.

So, I decided to do things the Ford way and use a cable with an angled fitting. I was not been able to find a supplier for new rear cables. However, I went to a local chain/wire rope shop and they are fabricating a new set of parking brake cables for me with the angled fitting and super-duper cables/housings that are guaranteed not to stick and last forever. It will not be cheap but I'm happy with the solution. The only down side is that the connectors on both ends of the cables are slightly larger than stock so I will have to enlarge the holes in the frame cross member and in the brake backing plate.

Additionally, 390428cjt provided me with a very nicely finished parking brake lever (that goes underneath the truck).

So now I'm back to the original design.

-David

 

send me a pic of these new fabbed cables Im curious as to this new cable fabrication bty I did have a new original passenger side NOS cable for your truck still in the factory box.

Tim P.

 

I do not believe you were provided with the correct cable.

I believe what you found under your truck was the way the C/S was originally built at the factory. I believe they used the (heavy duty) "Bendix brakes" as a part of the options package that made it a C/S. I'd bet that there never was a parking brake lever, return spring or equalizer rod - at least until you installed them (if that's what you did).

My 1970 is set up the same way, and I'm having a deuce of a time finding the correct front parking brake cable for it.

 

This thread you dug up is almost three years old (last post: 10/3/2007), so I would assume by now the issue has been resolved.

F250's of this vintage did not come with 12" x 3" brakes, a previous owner swapped parts. 1967/79 F350's have 12" x 3" brakes.

 

Go to www.helmarparts.com and poke around for a substitution brake cable. They are of good quality and were inexpensive a couple of years ago.